After losing her father on 9/11, a young Yankees fan built an unbreakable bond with Derek Jeter | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Brielle Saracini returned to Yankee Stadium Friday to throw out the ceremonial first pitch 25 years after her father died on Sept. 11, an event that helped shape an unexpected friendship with her childhood idol, Derek Jeter. Saracini was 10 when her father, United Airlines pilot Victor Saracini, died after Flight 175 hijacked into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Two years after the attacks, she met her future husband, Sean McGuire, at a camp for children who had lost a parent on Sept. 11; they married in 2017. During the pregame, McGuire also threw a pitch, and the ceremony included Mets catcher Mike Piazza. Saracini said Jeter checked in with supportive messages during her cancer battle, and recalled that she “bounced” the ceremonial pitch, while her father would have celebrated her effort.